Wayne Smith has been the Chief Statistician of Canada since 2010 when he took over from Munir Sheikh, who opposed the government’s decision to eliminate the long-form census. The B.C.-born Smith, who holds a master’s degree in economics from Carleton University, has presided over a period of unprecedented change at the agency.

Q: Can we start with the Labour Force Survey (LFS). How did that mistake happen?

A: Essentially, the problem arose because we did an inadequate job of testing the changes that were implemented to our production system for the LFS. The ultimate estimates that were generated were plausible so we didn’t immediately see there was a problem.

Q: Did the error have anything to do with the budget cuts?

A: There has been a complete misapprehension about how much our budget has been cut: it hasn’t been cut anything like what people believe it has.

To deal with the budget cuts, we decided we were going to reduce the program that we were producing. We were not going to undermine quality. We decided to stop certain programs and to make all of the investments we needed to preserve the quality of what we retained. On top of that, we said that those programs that are critical for fiscal and monetary policy — and, of course, the LFS is one of them — will not be touched in any way, shape or form.

There were no cuts made to the LFS program, or the people who work on gross domestic product, international trade, retail trade, or the consumer price index. We have worked hard to identify all of the investments we have to make in those programs to ensure their continuity and quality. One of the first things we did was to finance a major redesign of the LFS. So we got $5 million additional money to redesign it. The irony is that it was that process that caused this problem.

Q: You have seen an enormous amount of change here since 2008. How would you characterize the state of StatsCan?

A: I would say our program is slightly reduced as a result of fiscal pressure and budget reductions. But our systems, our processes, are far more robust and solid than they’ve been in the past. Our financial planning and management is much more effective: we can direct money where it needs to be. We have a motivated, innovative and creative staff. We are looking at new and better ways to do things: how to make better use of administrative data; how to make better use of Big Data; how to use new technologies.

For example, we used to ask Canadians in the Canadian Vehicle Survey to fill out a log every time they drove their car. Now we can give them a little device that plugs into their car that records the information. It’s far less burdensome for them and far more precise for us.

We’re undertaking a massive transformation and our international reputation is even better than it has been in the past – and it was good then.

Q: With the budget pressure, you’ve had to reduce the scope of Statistics Canada. What do you feel we’ve lost?

A: Every program we’ve ever operated had a clientele, people who said they need it. So every time we cut a program, people suffered. But we deliberately chose programs where the impacts were focused and narrow, that didn’t impact this broader mission to support fiscal and monetary policy.

Q: What are your priorities for the agency going forward?

A: Our most important priority is to evolve with the evolving needs of Canadians. Their information needs are changing. As environment issues gain importance, for instance, we need to do a better job of measuring the environment, its relationship to the economy, its impact on the economy and on Canadians.

We can evolve by saying we don’t need the buggy whip manufacturing statistics anymore, and we can invest in environment, and science and technology statistics, by reallocating that money. We need to do that.

Q: Many academics feel that StatsCan is producing less data at a time when big data is critical to business and government planning. What do you say to them?

A: In terms of the volume of data cells and the amount that’s reaching people, we’re actually producing more. We’ve vacated some areas in order to deal with budget restrictions. I know academics are sensitive about the fact we’ve largely stopped doing longitudinal survey programs. And I understand their concern. But we had to make choices. Those were some of the ones identified as lower priorities and they’re extremely expensive.

I don’t dispute that we’re producing less. But I think the things we’ve chosen not to do are lower priority in terms of the broader needs of Canadians.

Ultimately, the government of the day has to decide, given our fiscal situation, what kind of resources we’re going to put into statistical information. From there, my job is to produce the highest possible benefit for Canadians I can within that resource constraint.

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